Not yet, anyway. And certainly not after Northern Illinois’ offense went stagnant at key times during the Huskies’ 27-20 victory over a one-win Akron team on Saturday afternoon.

“After this one, we all have a bad taste in our mouths,” Lynch said, even though he led the 6-0 team in rushing (83 yards and a touchdown) and threw for 220 yards and a score as well. “I blame this thing on myself. I was out of rhythm, and I missed a lot of throws that were there.”

OK, so the Heisman talk can once again be put on hold for another week. There may be time for that in a month or so, although a few more games like Saturday’s and he’ll drift right out of the picture. The door is certainly open for the multi-talented Lynch to slip into the Heisman landscape this year, but he hasn’t quite had that whopper of a game to put him in the spotlight.

He rushed for 189 yards in a Week 3 win over East Illinois, and he threw for 275 yards and three TDs in the Huskies’ opener, but to really get the voters’ attention, he needs more — and at the same time.

For the quarterback of NIU in little old DeKalb, Ill., that’s what it’s going to take.

And, well, Saturday wasn’t the best of Lynch. In fact, that is probably still to come.

“No way was this the best he’s got,” Akron coach, and former Auburn leader, Terry Bowden said. “I voted for that (Heisman Trophy) for 10 years when I was a broadcaster, and I sure would (vote for Lynch) right now. … It’s deserving for him, and it’s very, very good for our conference.”

But, at this pace, it won’t happen this year. NIU has had comfortable second-half leads in half of its six games — certainly not Saturday — which certainly have hurt his overall numbers. And, his chance to capture the hearts of the Heisman Trophy voters.

It didn’t help that he was held in check for much of the day by the nation’s 123rd-ranked defense this weekend.

“We got this win because of the way the defense and the kicking game stepped up,” NIU coach Rod Carey said. “Obviously, there were a lot of missed opportunities for our offense.”

Page 2 of 2 - Still, Lynch has done almost everything in his power to move up the ladder. Before Saturday’s double-sided performance, Lynch had the Huskies in the top 20 in total net yards in the FBS, and he now has thrown for 1,333 yards and has rushed for 616 yards. He’s also accounted for 17 TDs so far this season with at least six games left to play, more likely closer to nine.

He was second nationally behind the eventual-Heisman winner Johnny Manziel in yards from scrimmage last year, and he finished seventh in the Heisman voting. He had 12 100-plus-yard rushing games and became the first player in NCAA history to pass for 3,000 yards and run for 1,500 in a season.

This year, Manziel has fallen out of voter’s favor, and no one else has put up eye-popping numbers. But even though his team has climbed into the rankings and is poised to roll through the MAC again, Lynch’s name hasn’t come up much when it comes to Heisman gossip.

But then again, it hasn’t disappeared either.

“It’s humbling,” Lynch said earlier this season about the Heisman hype, “but I love it.”

It won’t be easy for a player from the MAC, and one from the small DeKalb college town, to break into the Heisman picture. Even getting an invite to the stage at the Downtown Athletic Club in New York is a tall order for someone from one of the mid-major conferences.

But is it all a moot point, anyway? Can a MAC player ever really win the coveted award for college football’s MVP?

Well last year NIU became the first MAC team to play in a BCS bowl game, a MAC player (Central Michigan offensive tackle Eric Fisher) was the top pick in the NFL Draft for the first time ever, and a conference-record seven MAC teams played in bowl games.